The rich have a well-funded network that has been poisoning the collective mind of the country, yet somehow they have failed to penetrate my soft, permeable, liberal skull. How could that be?
“every common hobby for young men–gaming, sports, fitness–is saturated with right-wing propaganda”
Bluesky
There it is, they targeted “gaming, sports, fitness” thereby completely bypassing all of my interests.
Another point not mentioned: have you ever noticed that the biggest, most popular YouTube channels are typically targeted at…children? Mr Beast, PewDiePie, Logan Paul, etc. Then there are lesser channels with a teenaged audience, like Fresh and Fit or Andrew Tate. I’ve skipped over those by getting old. I’m so lucky.
So glad that I instinctively avoided that side of gaming fandom. Had a month where I was inundated with YouTube recommendations that all had the same thumbnail: An anti-woke grifter pulling his hair out and gnashing their teeth next to a circled detail from a video game or movie screen shot or press release that set them off. It was like they were competing the be the most offended by the smallest thing. Oh, wait, they were. That’s part of the grift.
Say it with me: “Do not recommend channel.”
I think I watched one Mr. Beast video and immediately felt like I needed a brain scrub. He’s like a more annoying, less interesting Mark Rober.
Bingo. FYI I have a blog that explored the topic of memes (mind viruses); was going to write something to that effect. It’s scary to observe how easily people can be manipulated according to simple formulas based on hypothetical musings.
My generation “came of age” in the 1980s-90s when people developed their social skills in real-life situations; face to face. And I guess I was fortunate to find books in the late 90s that cautioned to be on guard against the kind of “mind viruses” that people can become addicted to. I wish those books had become required reading in all schools.
Reading all the petty and juvenile MAGA troll comments on mainstream social media “felt” like a referendum by disenfranchised men with no social skills who got jilted by their girlfriends and now want to exact revenge against a system that enables women’s independence and autonomy (see: Iran revolution; ISIS, etc.). …So, yeah, Gamergate comes to mind.
The human mind and its capacity for language means that we also tend to process information in condensed “jpeg” form. We are a symbolic species. Our minds will do this for economy’s sake. The entertainment we watch – movies, video games, cartoons, stories, etc. use storytelling and archetypal characters. Cartoons are a kind of “shorthand” for personalities and situations encountered in real life. (No wonder political pundits these days like to reduce their opponents to a caricatured strawman).
I saw a video on Instagram where it was explained how online culture has contributed to damaging young peoples’ social skills, created a negative feedback loop. IMO, online culture and gaming – escaping into a fantasy world of strategy and conflict – are also like an “escapist drug”, with the “reward” being the rush of winning… or of validation if the escape is inside an echo chamber.
Trump no doubt represented a symbol to many; nevermind the ramifications he presents for anyone who paid attention in history, government, economics or science classes. In the simplified video game logic of “us vs. them”, “winning” is what matters; not problem-solving in a democratic manner.
Maybe it’s time to revisit Karl Jung and Joseph Campbell, and their exploration of why archetypes and “identities” are so important to our psyche.
Sadly, without decent educational standards, there really isn’t any way out of this mess. Our political system is run by marketing campaigns — and in marketing, the odds favor the most quickly-conveyed ideas or messages. Eventually that is going to pare down to “Us vs. Them”.
It is, perhaps, telling that “ethics”, “empathy”, or just plain “being a decent human being” isn’t on that list.
I was about to question why people are down on Mr. Beast then I realized the guy who made a few decent videos I’ve watched is Mr. Beat. I have no idea who Mr. Beast is, but Mr. Beat is ok from what I’ve seen so far. Carry on.
So, time to surge inti those hobby spaces with alternate messaging?
Hemidactylus, cf. https://slate.com/life/2024/08/mrbeast-beast-games-controversy-safety-dangerous-scandal.html
If you want to watch Mr Beast without watching Mr Beast, here’s a satirical video:
That’s pitch perfect: the weird hyperbole, the fake smile, the stupid stunts with no real purpose, the excesses of a guy with dumbass money, the appeal to children or people with the minds of children.
Here Mr. Beat compares/contrasts himself with Mr. Beast:
Who is Mr. Beat?:
https://youtube.fandom.com/wiki/Mr._Beat
I guess this counts in his favor:
Something to be grumpily grateful about: being old means not having had to grow up with the Net’s garbage. Analog mentality, if you will.
But if it goes on like this they won’t get twisted some more, they’ll be dead:
https://boingboing.net/2024/11/10/germ-theory-denial-is-dangerous-and-on-the-rise.html
being a raging Trumper is all fun and games I guess, but ignoring reality has a steep price.
Won’t work. “The Algorithm” is written by billionaires, and it will promote right wing content while suppressing left. Except, of course, there is no “Algorithm”, there’s just a billionaire with a “heating tool” button at his right hand and a “shadowban” button at his left. “The Algorithm” is yet another lie, meant to pretend that explicit editorial decisions by humans (often political, and also often illegal payola) are neutral decisions made by mathematical calculations as to what the audience would want most.
If this sounds familiar, that’s because it is. It’s just the cyber edition of the Chicago School/capitalist veneration of “The Market”, according to whose
propagandawisdom your eggs got more expensive because “The Market” calculated that that was the optimal price to match supply and demand. Pay no attention to that monopolist behind the curtain with his right hand on a “gouge” button and his left hand on a “mergers and acquisitions”, aka “buy out and then kill competing product lines”, button.This is so very silly!
cf. https://www.forbes.com/sites/annikagrosser/2024/05/28/americas-richest-women-celebrities/
Oprah Winfrey
Net worth: $3 billion
Kim Kardashian
Net worth: $1.7 billion
Rihanna
Net worth: $1.4 billion
Taylor Swift
Net worth: $1.3 billion
Such stupidity!
Here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recommender_system